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Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2020
|- | colspan="4" | |- | colspan="4" style="text-align: center" | |- | colspan="5" | | colspan="4" | |- | |} The 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and caucuses are an ongoing series of electoral contests taking place in all 50 states organized by the Democratic Party to select the required amount of delegates to the Democratic National Convention and determine the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. A total of four major candidates declared their candidacies in the spring of 2019: former President Selina Meyer, New York Senator Kemi Talbot, former Maine Senator and 2016 vice presidential nominee Tom James, and Nevada governor Buddy Calhoun. Despite Meyer initially leading in the polls, Talbot received a large amount of support after announcing her candidacy in spring 2019. Talbot would go on to win the Iowa caucus, with Meyer coming in second. Meyer would go on to win the New Hampshire primary and the South Carolina primary. Candidates Leading candidates * Selina Meyer, 45th President of the United States 2016 - 2017; Vice President of the United States 2013 - 2016; U.S. Senator from Maryland 2003 - 2013; candidate for President in 2008, 2012 and Democratic presidential nominee in 2016; ([[Selina Meyer presidential campaign, 2020|'campaign']]) * Kemi Talbot, U.S. Senator from New York since 2013; (campaign) * Buddy Calhoun, Governor of Nevada since 2018, Secretary of State of Nevada until 2018; ([[Buddy Calhoun presidential campaign, 2020|'campaign']]) * Jonah Ryan, U.S. Representative from New Hampshire 2017 - 2019; ([[Jonah Ryan presidential campaign, 2020|'campaign']]) Withdrew during the primaries * Tom James, U.S. Senator from Maine 2001 - 2013; Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2016; withdrew January/February 2020; ([[Tom James presidential campaign, 2020|'campaign']]) Minor candidates * Clarence Clark, U.S. Representative * Lord Wolfsbane, board game store owner Background Speculation on whether or not former President Selina Meyer would run in the 2020 presidential election began to emerge on January 3, 2018, during her interview on CBS This Morning, where she said she had no plans to run. However, she secretly was planning a run for president, but after a discussion with her longtime associate Ben Cafferty, ultimately decided against it. In October 2018, a media leak resulted in Meyer receiving credit for the 2016/17 negotiations that led to the freeing of Tibet. Meyer cancelled any plans to open a presidential library and decided to devote all her effort to a run in the 2020 election. In November 2018, the 2018 midterm elections were held, resulting in the Republican Party maintaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives. In January 2019, former congressman Jonah Ryan became the first candidate to announce he was running. In the following months, Nevada Governor Buddy Calhoun and former Senator Tom James would announce they would be seeking the Democratic nomination in 2020. In March 2019, Meyer officially announced her candidacy outside the birthplace of Susan B. Anthony in Massachusetts. New York Senator Kemi Talbot would announce her candidacy in April/May 2019. According to Kent, polls had former President Selina Meyer ahead by double-digits, before she even announced. In Discovery Weekend, it was revealed that, even after announcing, Selina had a double-digit lead over Tom James. In Iowa, it was revealed that Jonah was polling poorly in Iowa and decided to devote his time to campaigning in his home state of New Hampshire. After the revelation that Jonah Ryan married his stepsister, polls had Ryan up among white males. However, by the time the debates came around, Jonah was polling in seventh place, below five percent. The first primary debate was held on May 18, 2019; polls afterwards had Meyer winning. The following day, Meyer deputy campaign manager Amy Brookheimer announced she would be joining the Jonah Ryan campaign. Early primaries The first Democratic primary held was the Iowa caucus. Although it's not explicitly stated, it's implied that Talbot won. Meyer came in second place in Iowa. The following primary was New Hampshire, which Meyer won with 43% percent of the vote. Meyer previously won the state in the 2012 primaries but came in third place in New Hampshire in the 2016 primaries. While campaigning in the South Carolina primary, Tom James withdrew his candidacy, but refused to endorse any candidate. On the day of the primary, several mysterious occurrences prevented largely African-American counties from going to the polls, resulting in Meyer winning South Carolina. Jonah Ryan, after the resignation of Bill Ericsson and Teddy Sykes, drew controversy by blaming Muslims for creating math, despite drawing some support and coming in third in South Carolina.